Alcohol and dancing

[David Bailey]

Having been corrupted last night by a certain Forumite, who shall remain nameless (you know who you are...) into having a whole beer before dancing, I realised I have very little tolerance for this alcohol stuff - what can I say, I'm a square.

I did feel a bit more loose for the "get down and dirty tracks", but I certainly couldn't keep balance well, and nearly fell over on a couple of double-spins. It took a good 20 minutes to dance it out of my system.

However, this could be just me - what do other people think about the Evils of Drink?

[MartinHarper]

Originally Posted by DavidJames

It took a good 20 minutes to dance it out of my system.

If I recall, a pint of beer takes around 4 hours to fade out of your system. (2 units = 4 hours?). So, after the first 20 minutes I imagine you were still under the influence, but just better able to cope.

[Lynn]

Alcohol makes me dance superbly, last for hours, and be irresistible to the opposite sex

On a more serious note, when alcohol can make guys* think that and by that stage they are not very pleasant to dance with - either because they think they are 'dancing superbly' and put you into dangerous drops or spin you directly into other dancers - or if they think they are 'irrestible' they dance way too UCP and don't pick up on all the 'keep your distance' signals. Yeuch!

*And I'm not saying a woman who has had a few too many is any better, but I'm speaking from the perspective of my/my friends experiences of dancing with men who don't seem to know how much alcohol is appropriate when dancing.

Personally speaking - I have trouble enough with my spins as it is, so I tend to stick to water!

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by MartinHarper

If I recall, a pint of beer takes around 4 hours to fade out of your system. (2 units = 4 hours?). So, after the first 20 minutes I imagine you were still under the influence, but just better able to cope.

Or perhaps I just thought I could

[philsmove]

Have to admit I’m partial to a small glass of chardonnay, with a light meal before dancing

[RogerR]

In a class situation drinking tends to reduce the benefit gained from the class, but when arriving at a social dance a drink is a refreshing mind altering substance that can de-stress after a journey. Still there is statutory requirement to be below the limit before driving. Bring on the bar that charges less for a pint of tax free squash than a beer with 85p to the taxman (beer £1.80, squash £2.20 ) recently

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by philsmove

Have to admit I’m partial to a small glass of chardonnay, with a light meal before dancing

OK, did anyobody else read that and think ""Liver, Fava beans and Chianti?"

Just me then ...

[ElaineB]

Originally Posted by Lynn

On a more serious note, when alcohol can make guys* think that and by that stage they are not very pleasant to dance with - either because they think they are 'dancing superbly' and put you into dangerous drops or spin you directly into other dancers - or if they think they are 'irrestible' they dance way too UCP and don't pick up on all the 'keep your distance' signals. Yeuch!

*And I'm not saying a woman who has had a few too many is any better, but I'm speaking from the perspective of my/my friends experiences of dancing with men who don't seem to know how much alcohol is appropriate when dancing.

Personally speaking - I have trouble enough with my spins as it is, so I tend to stick to water!

Agreed!!! I only ever drink after a competition and then only one......for me, dancing and drinking just do not work!


Elaine

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by RogerR

Bring on the bar that charges less for a pint of tax free squash than a beer with 85p to the taxman (beer £1.80, squash £2.20 ) recently

I've said it so many times, you don't have to serve alcohol to dancers, and you make so much more profit on soft drinks... Production, storage, distribution, administration; they're all so much easier without alcohol.

If a venue catered exclusively for (MJ) dancers, it should focus on a good range of soft drinks, and not even bother with a drinks license; I'm sure it'd clean up.

[RogerR]

Lamentably most venues pay their way by bar take. Some impose a minimum bar spend total on the hirer some just dont continue hires with low bar take. Remembers Notre Dame Hall - supermarket sized bottled water at supermarket prices. sadly not for dancing any longer.

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by RogerR

Lamentably most venues pay their way by bar take. Some impose a minimum bar spend total on the hirer some just dont continue hires with low bar take. Remembers Notre Dame Hall - supermarket sized bottled water at supermarket prices. sadly not for dancing any longer.

Oh, I'm not suggesting cheapo prices - I just think that focussing on soft-only would actually generate more revenue.

Decent soft drinks, the ones we want - refreshing, targetted as our requirements rather than the requirements of the average pub- or club-goer. I've got no problem with paying decent prices for drinks, but I resent having to subsidise the alcohol costs of a bar when I normally never drink alcohol.

Oooh, I'm getting all steamed up now

[philsmove]

Originally Posted by DavidJames

If a venue catered exclusively for (MJ) dancers, it should focus on a good range of soft drinks, and not even bother with a drinks license; I'm sure it'd clean up.

I suggested this to some local organisers who run their own bar
But they disagreed

Quite a lot of people bring their non-drinking partners who are happy to watch or may have just have the occasion bob

But if there were no bar, nether partner would come

A lot of my friends like at least one alcoholic drink during a social dance

[bigdjiver]

My guess is that the drinks companies have a strong discounting incentive scheme to sell more alcohol. So, even though the bar may make more per pint on soft drinks, there are magical targets to reach where one extra pint of beer sold obtains a big discount, and this sets a sell alcohol culture.

[DavidB]

I like having a drink when I dance. Usually I'm driving, so I make sure I keep under the limit. But occasionally I will have a lot more.

The availability of alcohol at a venue is not at the top of my list of factors when deciding where to go dancing. However I wouldn't go regularly to a soft-drinks only venue.

I've had a quick look to see if physical activity affects the body's rate of breaking down the alcohol. I know it feels like it does, but couldn't find any information on it. I suspect that the depressive effect of alcohol is just counteracted by the stimulative effect of the dancing. I would still stick to the normal rates of your body removing alcohol (ie 1 unit per hour).

David

[Little Monkey]

For me, alcohol and dancing don't mix. Any more than about 1/2 pint of lager, and my spinning goes pear-shaped. After a couple of pints, my concentration goes, too. I just drink GALLONS of water!

I also dislike (read: detest!) dancing with guys who are obviously drunk, or even just tipsy, as in about 90% of the cases (in my experience, anyway) they become very sloppy leads (or use too much force when leading/think they can do the most fantastic intricate moves/dips/drops, and end up hurting you), and in more extreme cases think they're absolutely irresistible, and do a lot of UCP moves - YUC!!

Most guys can handle a pint or two without it affecting their dancing abilities much, though. Personally I avoid alcohol when dancing, thus (hopefully) giving my dance partners a much more pleasant dance experience than if I was drunk.

Little Sober Monkey

PS - and I don't need alcohol to act silly/misbehave/have fun! It comes naturally!

[Mary]

I reckon, as a rule of thumb, drinking and dancing don't mix - for anyone. However, if I am out social dancing then I do quite enjoy a glass of wine during the evening, interspersed with lots of water.

At a competition it has been known for me to have a small glass of wine as I am often rigid with fear and terror before dancing. This rigidity and lack of responsiveness has led to a bad shoulder injury before going on. After it's all over my idea of heaven is a large bowl of pasta and a bottle of something delicious, and then back for some really relaxing social dancing.

M

[Ballroom queen]

Originally Posted by DavidB

I've had a quick look to see if physical activity affects the body's rate of breaking down the alcohol. I know it feels like it does, but couldn't find any information on it. I suspect that the depressive effect of alcohol is just counteracted by the stimulative effect of the dancing. I would still stick to the normal rates of your body removing alcohol (ie 1 unit per hour).

David

Alcohol is metabolised by the liver in zero order kinetics, ie approx 1 unit per hour regardless of hour much you drink. being "active" or "fit" makes no difference on metabolism.

In answer to someone elses question you do get tolerant to the depressive effects of alcohol in a single dose - ie the alcohol level at which you can stand up again may be higher than the point at which you fell over. (my third year project at uni was "kinetics and tolerance to depressive drugs" - we used alcohol in humans and reaction time tests, great fun!!! Reaction times get slower as you get drunk, as you sober up they get better at a higher breath alcohol level. Subjects had had enough "practice" for it not to be due to learning.

I often say "you can't drink and jive" - I do like the odd glass of wine when I'm at a dance and not driving, but I don't dance so well.

[baldrick]

I'm not a great one for drinking anyway, and often I'm driving. But when I can have a drink its pleasant to do so, but one or two beers a night plus soft drinks to keep hydrated.
It does sometimes feel a bit puritanical on the forum. A friend who is new to the Ceroc scene felt shunned on night after having had a small number of beers. Reading the forum did not help that feeling.
Drunk is not a good thing and if people were more open to how little it takes to be affected it would be easier. But zero tolerance is a bit heavy handed.

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by baldrick

It does sometimes feel a bit puritanical on the forum. A friend who is new to the Ceroc scene felt shunned on night after having had a small number of beers. Reading the forum did not help that feeling.

I'm sorry if any of my posts have given that impression, and I'm certainly happy for people to be falling-down drunk, but I just won't dance with them - I suspect many women feel the same about men.

And Friday's experience just reminded me why I don't drink and dance; basically because I can't. No morals involved, just practicality.

As for "shunning", well it's a ruthlessly competitive world out there, and if you give yourself a disadvantage, you'll get less offers to dance, surely that's self-evident? It's not, pre se, "shunning", it's just that there are lots of other potential partners who haven't had anything to drink... Partner dancing isn't a democracy, it's a meritocracy. Apologies if that sounds harsh - again, I've no intent to offend, but that's how I see it, and hopefully that's useful information to other new starters. At least that may explain why - I don't think anyone would confuse the average MJ-er with the Temperance League. We're just selfish in the pursuit of our own pleasures.

I guess if you're new to partner dancing, and you're just used to club dancing, you really don't think about these effects so much. It's when you need to have concentration, focus, balance and timing that you realize how much these things get disrupted by alcohol.

Also, with beer for guys, you sweat it out when you dance, and women can generally tell by the "aroma"...

Again, this isn't a moral crusade, it's just observing that alcohol will generally, at least for me, cause obstructions to my main aim for the night - having a damned good set of partner dances (in case you were wondering )

[MartinHarper]

Originally Posted by DavidJames

Why I don't drink and dance; basically because I can't. No morals involved, just practicality.

If you practice a little more,